Makeup Artists Vital to Park’s Scary Spectacle
MICHAEL W. FREEMANThe Reporter Editor Sunday Oct 25, 2009 at 12:01 AM ORLANDO | Michael Burnett remembers loving horror movies when he was a kid. "I grew up in California and was always a big fan of science fiction and horror films, and I started making my own 8mm movies," he recalled. "Every film involved a Frankenstein monster or wolf man or something like that." At the same time, he started reading monster magazines, which had interviews with the makeup artists who designed those early Hollywood creatures. He was inspired by their work. "In those days, it was prior to cable TV and VCRs, so I had to wait until Saturday night, when they had the Saturday night spook show," Burnett said. "I remember getting that excitement watching it, and wanting to recreate that for other people. I started haunting my parents' porch, and then it grew to doing an entire haunted house in our garage." Burnett has come a long way from the early days. Today he works for Universal Studios as a makeup and prosthetics designer. His skills are heavily in demand this time of year for the annual Halloween Horror Nights, which has helped to put Central Florida on the map as a popular fall destination. "A lot of people are coming in for Halloween Horror Nights," said Jackie Ewing, the marketing chairman for the Central Florida Vacation Rental Managers Association. "It's surprisingly big. A lot of the twenty-somethings come in here in groups of six to eight and spend two nights here." There's even a "Gory Getaway Vacation Package" that includes two-night hotel accommodations, plus a 1-Day/2-Park admission and Halloween Horror Nights Combo ticket, a souvenir photograph and free access to live entertainment at Universal CityWalk. That raises the question of why so many people flock to a theme park that guarantees a really terrifying experience. Burnett said that's no mystery to him. "It's definitely an adrenaline rush," he said. "You get that excited feeling, but deep down, you know that it's really safe. "And yet, there's always that chance that this person might be a little twisted," he added. "That's what kind of gives it its edge." This seasonal event is fast gaining in popularity, and getting good feedback. "I liked it, it was fun," said 16-year-old Josh Feldman of Windermere. "It did scare me some, but I was going with a group of guys, and I think they try to go after people who look more easily scared. But I especially liked the people dressed up like dead World War II soldiers. That was real creepy." In fact, he offered the highest compliment that theme parks hope to get, when he added, "I do want to go again." "Halloween Horror Nights definitely grows every year, and it seems to be more and more popular," Burnett said. "Horror movies historically have been very popular. And I think throughout history when things can be a little rough - like at times of war - this gives people an escape. You can go see these things, but get away from the real terrors that are out there." As the attraction draws larger crowds, Burnett freely admits that audience expectations go way up. They want stronger, more convincing scares each year. So that puts the pressure on Burnett and his staff in the makeup department to ensure the ghouls chasing down their next victim are as believable as possible. "I think we've got a pretty sophisticated audience these days," he said. "People are used to seeing very realistic interpretations of these monsters and creatures, and when they come here they've got a certain expectation and we've got to meet that challenge. I don't think people would be satisfied if they came here and saw a bunch of masks you could get at the local Halloween store." So what does it take to create a truly convincing creature? "We do a lot of research, depending on what it is," Burnett said. "If it's a creature, a completely made-up kind of creature, we'll take aspects of it and make it look real. If it's a creature that lives underground, we'll look at actual animals and things that live under the ground and what they did to adapt to their environment, and we'll take what is real and put that into a fictitious character. If something is underground, it's not going to be in the sun and we'll make it very pale, for example. It's a very organized process. We have to put hundreds and hundreds of people through the process every night. At certain times, we've got a constant flow of people going through a haunted house. This has to look good on an ongoing basis." Asked how long it takes to design a performer, Burnett responded, "It varies from character to character. Probably the most elaborate makeup is an hour and a half, maybe, down to some that could just take a few minutes." The makeup artists he employs, Burnett said, absolutely love doing this. "It's not just a job for them," he said. "It's one of the cool things for me working here. It's like-minded people. We all grew up as monster kids and we wanted to create an event we'd enjoy coming to." Demetrois Stavracos is a 28-year-old make up artist at Halloween Horror Nights who calls the job "a dream come true" for someone who grew up, as Burnett did, loving horror movies - and the talent behind the scenes. "One time, my sister took me to a costume store and bought me this amateur makeup set," he said. "I was around 13 or 14 years old. So I started playing with the prosthetics and makeup." A lot goes into creating Halloween Horror Nights' scary performers, he said. "We're usually encouraged to be pretty creative with the makeup," Stavracos said. Their work appears to be paying off. "I think people feel coming to Universal, they'll have a higher expectation than a haunted house in a tent, and that adds to it," Burnett said. "There's an official Facebook page that started this year, and it has close to 29,000 fans now. We have a huge audience that encourages us to keep raising the bar. And that's also the nice thing about having eight haunted houses. There's always something they'll like." Burnett said he often gets asked by people how the makeup is done, and he hopes this inspires a future generation of creative makeup artists. "I've been impressed about how everybody is very interested in the technical aspect as well," he said. "There's just something visceral about having a real person playing a character with the prosthetics. I hope there will be a young people inspired by this." http://archive.fo/qlO0E Category:Halloween Horror Nights article Category:Halloween Horror Nights: Ripped from the Silver Screen